Steph Curry returned from injury with 29 points but the Warriors lost to the Rockets. basketball news

The NBA star returned after nine weeks as the Houston Rockets defeated the Golden State Warriors 117-116 in San Francisco.

Stephen Curry returned from a two-month absence with 29 points, but ultimately suffered a loss as the Houston Rockets defeated the Golden State Warriors 117-116 in San Francisco.

The Rockets’ Alperen Sengun had a 24-point performance with a go-ahead interior hoop with 11.1 seconds remaining, sealing his team’s victory on Sunday night.

In his first return to San Francisco as a member of the Rockets, former Warriors star Kevin Durant scored a game-high 31 points for Houston (49–29).

Durant also got playing time for a team-high eight assists and eight rebounds, one less than Smith’s nine for team honors in both categories.

The Rockets have now moved to within one game of the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets in their three-team duel for third place in the Western Conference.

Brandin Podziemski backed Curry with 18 points for the Warriors (36-42), who have secured themselves the 10th seed in the Western Play-In Tournament.

Sengun’s four-foot shot from the middle of the key came after Golden State used a 17-6 burst to overtake the visitors on a Gary Payton II layup with 19.6 seconds remaining.

Golden State had a shot after Sengun’s layup, but Curry missed a 30-footer under heavy pressure, limiting the effort to 5-for-10 from three-point range.

Jabari Smith Jr. had 23 points, Amen Thompson had 18 and Reid Shepard had 11 points for the Rockets, who won their sixth consecutive game.

Curry, who had missed 27 consecutive games since suffering an injury on January 30 against Detroit, played 26 minutes, during which he made 11 of 21 shots.

Coming off the bench in the regular season for the first time in 14 years, Curry received a warm standing ovation and congratulations on the big screen when he scored with 4:54 left in the opening quarter.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr said, “He’s one of the most beloved players in league history, Bay Area history in any sport, and I think this kind of long absence reminds everybody how fortunate we are to see him, to coach him, to play with him.” “So tonight is a special night because we are reminded how lucky we were and how lucky we still are.”

Kerr said before the game that it’s still unclear how many games Curry will play remaining, given that Golden State has five contests in eight days, the rest of the way are back-to-backs — and the expectation is he won’t play on consecutive nights.

“We’re going to manage it accordingly. The plan tonight will be short-term, and we’ll see in minutes,” Kerr said. “But in the first game, he’s not playing 48 minutes.”